A letter from Thomas of Savoy (1241, June)

Translated letter:

Thomas, count of Flanders and Hainaut, and Joan, my wife, countess, to all both present and future who will view the present document, greeting in the Lord. May all your society know that – since we have given and granted to the abbey of Marke near Courtrai, in alms, half of all the land between a certain island called Milme, which is in the district of Assenede, and Gaternesse, in the district of Bruges, beyond the old dikes, and in addition half of the silting of Gaternesse and likewise half of all the land which, through silting on the aforesaid lands, has increased or in future times will increase said lands or in some way will lie like the sea against the aforesaid lands, to be possessed freely, peacefully and quietly in perpetuity, we have also retained the other half for us for our use, such that we and the aforesaid church were bound to embank (dike) the aforesaid land at common expense as often as it may be of use; since from this mutual participation much argument and contention could arise in the future between us and our descendants on one side and the aforesaid abbey on the other, we, wishing to cut off fully all occasion for dispute and to provide for the tranquility of said abbey, having considered both the benefit to us and our descendants and that of the aforesaid abbey, between us and the aforesaid abbey we agree thus: that we have conceded to the aforesaid abbey that half which we retained for us and our descendents in all the abovesaid lands, with all the silting, whether against the aforesaid lands or in some way contiguous to those same lands, as was expressed above, to be held and possessed in perpetuity, transferring to the aforesaid abbey by title of sale or exchange whatever right in all the aforesaid places we and our successors held or could hold, saving always high and low jurisdiction for us and our successors in all the abovesaid lands already silted or to silt in the future. We have conceded also to the aforesaid abbey as pure alms to be possessed in perpetuity the tithes of the aforesaid lands and others existing within the abovesaid boundaries beyond the old dikes. In return for the aforementioned half of all the land -- described at length above -- the abbess and the convent(1) have ceded to us an annual income of 25 pounds Flemish, which they used to receive from the brevia(2) of the major office of Bruges; [in addition, they ceded to us] all that they used to receive [annually] in Slijpe from the daughters of sir Walter of Rodenburg(3); an annual income of 100 shillings which they used to receive from the exchequer of Veurne/Furnes, all they used to receive near Ardooie. For the rest, since the aforesaid nuns lack much wood and groves, we have given and conceded to the aforesaid abbey six quarter-acres of our wood, which we have in La Haya of Castella next to the wood of the monastery of St. Peter at Hasnon, as alms to be held by the same abbey and possessed quietly and freely in perpetuity. But we, as founders, embrace with special love and love with sincere charity the aforesaid abbey and convent as well as their place and, since there is little benefit in giving something unless the giver guards and defends what is given, we declare by testimony of the present letters that we must guarantee, in good faith as much as possible for the said abbey and convent, especially on account of the compensation which they made to us for the aforesaid, as stated above, all the aforesaid against any wrongdoers or malefactors. Therefore in memory of the aforesaid we have caused the present document to be strengthened by protection of our seals. Enacted in the year of the Lord 1241, in the month of June.(4)

Original letter:

Th[omas], Flandrie et Hannonie comes, et Johanna, uxor mea, comitissa, universis tam presentibus quam futuris presentem cartam visuris, salutem in Domino. Noverit universitas vestra quod, — cum nos abbatie de Marka, juxta Cutracum, donaverimus et concesserimus in elemosina medietatem tocius terre que est inter insulam quandam, que vocatur Milme, que est in officio de Hassenede et inter Gaternessort, que est in officio de Brugis extra veteres dicos, medietatem etiam jactus de Gaternessort et medietatem similiter tocius terre, que per jactum maris terris predictis accrevit vel futuris temporibus accrescet seu quocumque modo mare jaciet contra terras predictas pacifice et quiete imperpetuum libere possidendam et nos alteram medietatem retinuissemus nobis ad usus nostros, ita quod nos et ecclesia predicta terram predictam, quociens opus esset, ad communes expensas dicare tenebamur; cum ex hac communione plures lites et contentiones inter nos et posteritatem nostram, ex una parte, et abbatiam predictam, ex altera, possent inposterum suboriri, — nos, omnem materiam questionis penitus amputare volentes et tranquilitati dicte abbatie providere, pensata tam nostra et posterum nostrorum quam predicte abbatie utilitate, ita convenimus inter nos et abbatiam predictam : quod medietatem illam, quam nobis et posteris nostris in terris omnibus supradictis retinueramus, cum omni jactu maris, sive contra terras predictas, sive quocumque modo eisdem terris contingente, pro ut superius est expressum, abbatie predicte concessimus habendam et inperpetuum possidendam, quicquid iuris in omnibus locis predictis nos et nostri successores habebamus vel habere poteramus, in predictam abbatiam titulo venditionis seu permutationis transferentes, salva semper nobis et successoribus nostris in terris omnibus supradictis iam iactis et inposterum iaciendis alta et bassa iusticia. Nos etiam decimas predictarum terrarum et aliarum existentium infra terminos supradictos extra vereres dicos abbatie prefate in puram elemosinam concessimus inperpetuum possidendas. Pro predicta autem medietate tocius terre, que superius satis est expressa, abbatissa et conventus abbatie supradicte nobis et successoribus nostris in perpetuum concesserunt vigintiquinque libras flandrenses, quas habebant ad brevia maioris officii in Brugis, quicquid habebant in Sclippis ex parte filiarum domini Walteri de Rodenborc, centum solidos annui redditus, quos habebant ad scakarium Furnensem, quicquid etiam habebant apud Hardoie. Ceterum cum predicte moniales multum indigerent lignis et nemoribus, nos predicte abbatie sex bonaria nostri nemoris, quod habemus in Haya de Castella juxta nemus beati Petri de Hanon, dedimus et concessimus in elemosinam eidem abbatie habendam et inperpetuum libere et quiete possidenda. Nos vera predictas abbatiam et conventum, nec non et locum earum, tanquam fundatores speciali delectio conplectimur et sincera diligimus caritate et, quia parum prodest aliquem in possessionem mitti nisi missum mittens tueatur et defendat, presentium testimonio litterarum profitemur nos debere dictis abbatie et conventui predicta omnia maxime propter reconpensationem quam nobus ob predicta, prout superius dictum est, fecerunt, contra quoscumque iniuriatores seu malefactores pro posse nostra bona fide garandire. In memoriam igitur predictorum cartam presentem sigillorum nostrorum munimine fecimus roborari. Actum anno Domini MoCCo quadragesimo primo, mense Junio.

Historical context:

The count and countess bestow certain lands on an abbey, along with whatever land may accrue by silting, guaranteeing protection of said land, and retaining only juridical rights over said land. The convent is Groeninge in Marke, a village about 3 miles south of Courtrai. The island Milme was flooded by the Scheldt in the late Middle Ages and no longer exists. The village of Gaternesse drowned in the Scheldt floods of the 15th century. Starting in the twelfth century, the counts of Flanders stimulated massive public works to reclaim low lying lands (“polders”) along the coast of the North Sea and in the Scheldt estuary. Because of their regalian rights onto new land reclamation, they thus came into the possession of quite a bit of land that was often very fertile, or could become so with further drainage. The counts usually sold those lands to monasteries or entrepreneurs on the condition of building stable dikes and preparing the land for agriculture or pasture, or for gaining peat. This provided them with stable cash revenue. In this case, the “gift” of new land to the abbess and nuns of the Groeninge convent near Courtrai is really a sale/lease to the nunnery with financing built in, so to speak: as payment, the count and countess receive several annual rents that the nuns had acquired at the counts’ brevia of Bruges and the counts’ exchequer at Furnes (both possibly through older gifts from the Flemish counts, perhaps at the convent’s foundation in 1237. The sale means that these revenues of the countess at the brevia will no longer be paid out to the nuns[and presumably will flow to the countess’s treasury); the countess will now also benefit from the income the nunnery used to receive from Walter of Rodenburg’s daughters, who had made a large donation for the foundation of the Groeninge convent; as well as a certain rent the nuns received in Ardooie. (Walter P. Simons)

Scholarly notes:

1 In many monasteries for monks or nuns, the budget of the abbot or abbess was kept separate from that of the convent or community of the monks/nuns; hence the distinction made here. (Walter P. Simons)
2 Brevia refers to an office or bureau at which the count(ess)’s domanial revenues from a certain district were centralized, documented, and then passed on to the central treasury of the county. Each district had several such bureaus that dealt with specific revenues from the count’s domains. At the brevia, the count’s monetary revenues from his/her domains were collected, for instance payments in rents from land, tolls, etc. Normally, the revenues centralized at the brevia were to be transferred to the county’s central treasury, but sometimes the count(ess) would assign part of the revenue in a district to particular purposes, for instance he/she would donate part of it for an annual income to a monastery in the area, or for an annual fee paid to a businessman in a nearby city for services performed, etc. (Walter P. Simons)
3 Walter of Rodenburg is a fairly well known official in the counts’ administration; born in a prominent Courtrai family, he joined Joan’s father, Baldwin, on the fourth crusade and apparently distinguished himself on this occasion, since Baldwin endowed him with the fief of Rodenburg (in Marke) in 1205, while both were still in the Orient. Walter died in 1227, at which date his daughters were still minors.
4 The translation was provided by Ashleigh Imus and edited by Walter P. Simons, who provided all the details in the historical context as well as the notes.

Printed source:

Johanna van Constantinopel, Gravin van Vlaanderen en Henegouwen ed. Theo Luykx, Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamsche Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schoone Kunsten van Belgie, Klasse der Letteren, VIII.5 (1946), 592-94, ep.66.

Date:

1241, June